First of all...

Hi everyone, the reason why this update has been a long time is because I was very busy over the past week or so, and had many priorities to take care of. However, enjoy this update though, and I'll try not to take so long next time!

October Update

This month has been very good so far, we are comfortably sitting in 11th position on the league table, and so are Ipswich who were also promoted:

Transfers

IN

CA:
PA:
Position(s): M(R) / AM(R)
Nation:

This signing will be one of the best we've ever made. Toulouse wanted £7m for him last summer when we tried signing him, but we gave up... However, he was still on my shortlist, and this time, Toulouse offered him a professional contract but not enough wages. Like always, we swooped and got him for a sizeable compensation fee of £235k. He will join in the upcoming Janaury transfer window.

CA:
PA:
Position(s): ST(C) / AM(C)
Nation:

The fact that Flamengo accepted an offer of £900k from us was very surprising if you look at the quality and potential of the player, as I was expected them to counter offer it to about £6m. I had to buy off his agent, so the total price of the transfer adds up to £1.6m, and Reinaldo will join in June 2018.

Our run of results was very good, and we proved a lot of people wrong out there:

Newcastle United 2-1 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Hatem Ben Arfa (18')Brian Graham (25') Juan Cuadrado (39')

André Santos (Rochdale AFC) -- 8.2

Match ReviewWe went down 1-0 to a chipped shot by Ben Arfa, who surprisingly is still at Newcastle and hasn't moved on to a bigger club, but Brian Graham equalised with a volley before we conceded yet again, and the scores remained that way. It was a tough away fixture and we tried our best.

Tottenham 0-1 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Mousa Dembélé (o.g. 35')

Rhys Bennett (Rochdale AFC) -- 7.4

Match ReviewThis was a game we should savour for a very, very long time. Tottenham were looking to get revenge over us for breaking the partnership with them, but we showed them otherwise. Mousa Dembélé volleyed home a failed clearance into his own net to grab us the three points and left us celebrating long into the night... an AWESOME match.

Rochdale AFC 1-4 Chelsea (H)

Match ReviewThis was our first home game of the month and we lost 4-1 to mighty Chelsea. We went down 2-0 in the 7th minute but Will Keane scored to give us some hope, however we then went on to concede two more to round off this terrible match. Revenge is on the cards for next time.

Rochdale AFC 1-0 Wigan Athletic (H)

Capital One Cup 4th Round

Brian Graham (74')

Ben Mee (Wigan) -- 8.0

Match ReviewA weak shot by Brian Graham was all that we needed to secure a victory and march onwards in this cup.

Rochdale AFC 1-1 Manchester United (H)

Barclays Premier League

Danny Welbeck (10')Brian Graham (71')

Brian Graham (Rochdale AFC) -- 8.1

Match ReviewThis has to be the most profilic match we have played in this league so far. We ended Manchester United's winning streak by a Brian Graham (who came on as a late substitute) shot and cancelled out Welbeck's opener to snatch a point.

Player of the Month

The PoTM award goes to Brian Graham who has scored three so far, and has notched up a rating of 7.06. He has a certain knack of scoring against big clubs, and he has yet again showed why he should be a starter in the team this month.

Here are the fixtures for next month:

Author's Notes

We had a good run in the BPL this month, although recording two losses. However, we're not far off 6th place, and if things go our way, we could almost push for a Europa League spot this season which would be more than amazing.

Scott Hogan returns to first team action

It has been confirmed by Rochdale manager Justin Credible that main man Scott Hogan will return to first team action tonight as Rochdale face Nottingham Forest, after being sidelined for almost two months. The Rochdale forward who joined Rochdale on a free transfer in 2013 has yet to establish himself in the Premier League this season, and will be relishing at the chance to face old foe Nottingham Forest at Spotland.

Hogan had been injured due to a freak tackle by Crystal Palace defender Maynor Figueroa the last time the teams faced each other. Although the injury didn't seem to be bad, the full extent of the damage was revealed in a scan on Hogan's ankle later on that day. Hogan was the top scorer of the Sky Bet League 2, 1, and Championship in the past three seasons as Rochdale plundered through the English football pyramid and reached the Premier League under Justin Credible.

November Update

This month has been good, we only played three matches and we have stayed in 11th position since October:

Transfers

IN

CA:
PA:
Position(s): AM(C) / M(C)
Nation:

Our current midfielders have been plagued with injuries since we signed them, and after returning to the starting XI, they have not been reliable. Dias will add to our squad depth, but he will only be eligible to play after December.

Our recent run of results was pretty good for our first season in the Premier League, but the hard work begins in December:

Everton 1-1 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Stefan Strandberg (72')Jeremie Boga (78')

Stefan Strandberg (Everton) -- 7.6

Match ReviewWe went down 1-0 to a late strike, but we soon equalised afterwards, drawing it level.

Rochdale AFC 3-1 Nottingham Forest (H)

Barclays Premier League

Dwight Gayle (4')Scott Hogan (18')Will Keane (38', 65')

Will Keane (Rochdale AFC) -- 8.8

Match ReviewWe went down 1-0 after just four minutes into the first half, but Scott Hogan equalised to mark his return to the team after two months, and then Will Keane scored a brace soon afterwards to win us the three points and to keep us in 11th place.

Cardiff 1-0 Rochdale AFC (A)

Barclays Premier League

Ezequiel Lavezzi (77')

Gennaro Tuttino (Cardiff) -- 7.9

Match ReviewWe should have scraped this match 1-0 ourselves but we found ourselves at the end of a 1-0 defeat to a team that was facing a poor run of results. Hopefully we will beat them next time at home.

Player of the Month

The PoTM award goes to Justin Schmidt. The young left-back is arguably Rochdale's best player and he won the BPL Young Player of the Month award, he has also dazzled lots of people in his recent performances so far. Schmidt has adjusted well to England and the Premier League.

Here are the fixtures for next month:

Author's Notes

We recorded one win, one draw and one loss, all of which were sufficient to keep us in 11th place in the league. We play a total of 7 games in December, although they are tough, I hope to gain maximum points from them to propel us further up the table..

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